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QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: THE MOST CHALLENGING

AND EASIEST TO USE

Article · September 2020

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QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: THE MOST CHALLENGING
AND EASIEST TO USE

Christopher Mensah Adosi (PhD candidate)

Institute for Educational Planning and Administration
University of Cape Coast
cadosi@stu.ucc.edu.gh, 0246502881

Abstract

Deciding on the appropriate data collection instrument to use in capturing the needed

data to address a research problem as a novice qualitative researchers can

sometimes be very challenging. Nevertheless, my experience as a PhD candidate

having worked on some research projects over the years appear to suggest that a

documentary analysis guide is challenging to use, in that: documentary analysis guide

may not be able to provide an exhaustive list of all most relevant documents needed,

and the potential bias in a document may be difficult if not impossible to capture.

However, an interview guide (e.g. semi-structured and unstructured) is easy to use

because it provides flexibility to the interviewer. It also facilitates the conduct of the

interview since the interview guide contains the topics to focused on during the

interview conversation. It is therefore argued that the success or failure of using

documentary analysis guide and interview guide will depend mainly on the qualities of

the researcher.

Introduction

The primary purpose of conducting research is to inform action and or contribute to

knowledge development. To achieve this purpose, I firmly believe that the selection of

an appropriate research instrument to capture data that allows analysis to lead to the

formulation of convincing and credible answer(s) to research questions/objectives

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possed cannot be made indiscriminately. Thus, researchers need to be guided by their

competencies/capabilities in selecting the research instrument(s) to use. This

proposition is particularly pertinent in the case of qualitative research, where the

researcher is regarded as the part of the data collection instrument (McGrath,

Palmgren & Liljedahl, 2019; Johnson, Adkins & Chauvin, 2020). The succeeding

sections of this paper is dedicated to highlighting some data collection instruments

available to qualitative researchers, the qualitative data collection instrument I find

most challenging to use, and the one I find the easiest to use as a young researcher.

Some Data Collection Instruments Available to Qualitative Researchers

In the spirit of improving the quality of research findings, it is expedient that data is

collected using the right instrument(s). The evidence available in the qualitative

literature (for example, Creswell, Hanson, Clark-Plano, & Morales, 2007; Hamilton &

Finley, 2019) suggest that qualitative researchers have quite a number of data

collection instruments to select from depending on the purpose of their study and their

ability to use them effectively. For example, a researcher who intends to conduct an

interview can use an interview guide. An interview guide is simply a list of the topics

that a researcher plan on covering in an interview with the questions that need to be

answered under the topic (Jamshed, 2014). It guides a face-to-face conversation

between a researcher and participants with the sole purpose of collecting relevant

information to satisfy a research purpose.

In a case where a researcher wants to collect narrative data from a group of

individuals, a focus group discussion guide can be used. According to Guest, Namey,

Taylor, Eley and McKenna (2017), a focus group discussion guide contains questions

that guide researchers when they gather people from similar backgrounds or

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experiences together to discuss a specific topic of interest. In the context of collecting

data through observation, researchers can use an observation checklist – which is a

list of the items an observer examines in observing participants’ behaviour (Howitt,

2019). Another data collection instrument available for researchers who want to gather

data from existing documents is the documentary analysis guide – a detailed

systematic procedure that guides a researcher to analyse documentary evidence to

answer specific research questions (Forman, Creswell, Damschroder, Kowalski &

Krein, 2008).

The Qualitative Research Instrument I find Most Challenging to Use

Among the data collection instruments highlighted in the previous section, I find the

documentary analysis guide, which is used in documentary analysis, the most

challenging to use. Be definition, a documentary analysis guide prescribes a

systematic procedure for reviewing or evaluating documents – both printed and

electronic materials – to generate evidence to address a research problem (Bowen,

2009). Using a documentary analysis guide in qualitative data collection is challenging

for the following reasons.

Firstly, documents are produced with varied reasons. Hence, it becomes very

challenging particularly when one has to isolate documents that are produced with

some other reasons entirely from what the researcher knows – more so, in the case

where the document lacks sufficient detail to provide context for its content. For

example, some documents may be produced by powerful political, cultural and

economic groups, who want to champion their agenda. Thus, there can be a potential

bias in a document which may be difficult if not impossible to capture in the guide

3
(Gorsky & Mold, 2020). An undetected authors biases can lead to a biased

understanding of the documents (Bowen, 2009).

Secondly, the availability of documents of all kinds, especially in today’s information

age makes it very challenging to select the most credible one for analysis. Thus, a

documentary analysis guide may not be able to provide an exhaustive list of all most

relevant documents needed for analysis to answer the research questions. In such a

situation, a researcher may have to be updating the analysis guide from time to time

to ensure that it captures all relevant documents that have to be analysed.

Thirdly, it is believed that the success of a documentary analysis hinges on a

researcher’s ability to overcome linguistic/semantic barriers (Bowen, 2009). Thus,

ones command over the use of written language may determine the usefulness of their

documentary analysis guide. That is, the analysis guide may be useless is a situation

where a researcher is unable to decode the words used in composing the text in a

document being analysed. This, therefore, makes it challenging in using documentary

analysis guide as a data collection instrument if one is unable to surmount the linguistic

barriers that come with making meaning out of the contents of documents.

The Qualitative Research Instrument I find Easiest to Use

Admittedly, as fun as spontaneous interviews may seem to be, some level of

preparation must be put into it. That is, the questions the research intend to ask

respondents should be prepared beforehand in the form of an interview schedule or

guide. An interview guide is a list containing a set of questions that have been

prepared, to serve as a guide for researchers in collecting information or data about a

specific topic. An interview guide is the easiest data collection instrument to use,

particularly the semi-structured – contains questions that are loosely structured to give

4
participants more opportunities to express themselves fully. Using an interview guide

is easy for the following reasons.

First, an interview guide (e.g. semi-structured and unstructured) provides flexibility to

the interviewers. In other words, a researcher is not under compulsion to follow the list

of question rigidly. Collecting data using an interview guide permits sufficient flexibility

in the structure of the questioning to allow the interviewee to respond promptly to what

is relevant, to ask questions about what is heard from the respondent, not only form

what is written on the guide. Second, since the questions to be asked during the

interview is prepared beforehand (i.e. the interview guide), it becomes easier to carry

out and complete the interview without wasting much time. Thus, the interview guide

facilitates the conduct of the interview. Third, with an interview guide, the researcher

does not go through difficulty in remembering the topics to focus the interview

conversation on. Lindlof and Taylor (2011) have argued that, since questions on an

interview guide are expected to be well-thought-out and have focus, interviewers can

simply follow it to elicit relevant information to answer their research question. Using

an interview guide is easy because one can make use of probing questions on the

guide to make the information gathered more relevant and useful. Fourth, an interview

guide is the easiest data collection instrument to use because it does not limit the

interviewer and the interviewee to a confined setting. Thus, the interview guide can be

used to conduct interviews remotely (i.e.online) or in a face-to-face setting.

Conclusion

Both documentary analysis guide and interview guide are very useful data collection

instruments in qualitative research. However, their success or failure will depend

mainly on the qualities of a researcher – a deep understanding of the subject being

5
research; consistent self-reflection, zero bias; excellent knowledge of research design,

culture, values and norms of the research context; and a sound theoretical

understanding of the subject.

References
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research journal, 9(2), 27.

Creswell, J. W., Hanson, W. E., Clark-Plano, V. L., & Morales, A. (2007). Qualitative

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Forman, J., Creswell, J. W., Damschroder, L., Kowalski, C. P., & Krein, S. L. (2008).

Qualitative research methods: key features and insights gained from use in

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Guest, G., Namey, E., Taylor, J., Eley, N., & McKenna, K. (2017). Comparing focus

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